Photocopy apparatus



G. BURNETT v 3,216,341

PHOTOCOPY APPARATUS Filed June 14, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENTOR.

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United States Patent O 3,216,341 PHOTOCOPY APPARATUS James G. Burnett,Cedar Grove, N.J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to InternationalReprocopier Corporation Filed June 14, 1962, Ser. No. 202,591 1 Claim.(CI. 9575) This invention relates to a photocopy apparatus forduplicating original sheet material, and more particularly to such aphotocopier for producing positive copies of originals, utilizing thediffusion transfer reversal process.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a relatively simplephotocopier incorporating both printer and developer mechanisms in whichthe dilfusion transfer process can be efficiently practiced and whichcopier can be simply and economically produced.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appearhereinafter.

In accordance with the invention, a developing apparatus is provided foruse in the well known diffusion transfer type office copier, includingan outer casing, a developer container removably mounted within suchcasi 1 Jg,,a pair of engaging rolls rotatably mounted within the casingabove the container for engaging and pressing an exposed photosensitivesheet and a copy or receiving sheet together, and a guiding mechanismexternal of the casing for guiding the pair of sheets in superposedspaced relation into contact within a developer liquid in suchcontainer. The guide mechanism includes a pair of elongated spaced slotsformed in the top wall or roof of the casing above the developercontainer, and an elongated projection extending between the slots abovethe roof of the casing and having wall members which guide the spacedsheets into the casing into contact Within the developer liquid therein.

This relatively simple construction including the described guidemechanism insures separate insertion into the developer container of anexposed negative sheet and a receiving or copy sheet to which a positiveimage is to be transferred, and guided movement of such sheets intothedeveloper liquid within the container and through such liquid intothe nip of the pair of rolls which squeeze the sheets together andremove the resulting sandwich from the copier. Such construction isextremely simple to provide by conventional molding or castingprocedures and, unexpectedly, effects accurate guiding of the superposedsheets into and through the developer container, without the necessityfor the complex separator members, transfer mechanisms and likestructures employed by prior art diffusion transfer copiers.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the presentinvention, reference is made to the following detailed description ofthe photocopier taken in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of thephotocopier, showing various of the components thereof in disassembledrelation;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the frame structure for the photocopier ofFIGURE 1 with the developer container mounted thereon; and

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section through the copier, taken along theline 3-3 in FIGURE 2 and showing the casing for the photocopier in itsassembled position.

Referring now to the drawings, the photocopier illustrated includes ahousing or casing 11 removably mounted on a support plate 12, whichplate has a suitable supporting frame, indicated generally at 13 inFIGURE 1, secured thereto. The casing 11 defines two adjacent stations,an optical printer station 14 and a developer station 15, adjacentthereto.

Transversely elongated feed and delivery slots 16 and 17 are formed inthe casing 11 at the printer station 14 thereof to permit the feed andremoval of superposed sheet material therefrom, as will be described inmore detail hereinafter.

A transparent feed plate 18, e.g., of glass, is disposed adjacent thefeed slot 16 for receiving the sheet material for exposure. A hold-downroll 19 is disposed adjacent the feed plate 18. A print roll 21 ismounted adjacent hold-down roll 19 spaced a small distance,approximately .018 to .022 inch, from the feed plate 18 to hold down thesheets fed over the feed plate without imparting forward movementthereto; the print roll and the hold-down roll 19 serve to hold thesheet material fed through the contact printer station 14 together toinsure accurate exposure.

An exposure lamp 23 is mounted beneath the feed plate 18 for exposingthe sheet material through the plate as it is fed through the printerstation 14. The lamp 23 is supported within an aperture tube 24 in theform of a cylindrical segment having light opaque walls; an indexinglever 25 is secured to the aperture tube 24, moving in a vertical arethrough a slot 26 provided in the casing 11 therefor, to vary theexposure aperture and thus change the amount of light from lamp 23 whichis incident upon the sheet material fed over feed plate 18 at theprinter station.

A print back-up roll 26A in driven engagement with the print roll 21 ispositioned adjacent the feed plate 18; the print roll 21 and the printback-up roll 26A act as nip rolls to engage and pull the sheet materialsout of the printer station 14 through the delivery slot 17 thereof. Inthe preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, the print back-uproll 26A is mounted on a shaft journalled in bearings at the sides offrame 13, and is driven by frictional engagement with the print roll 21.The latter roll is mounted on a shaft 22, journalled in bearings onframe 13 and driven by the drive mechanism described hereinafter. Itwill of course be understood that these rolls may be driven by otherconvenient drive means, as desired.

A pair of laterally elongated slots 27 and 28- are pro vided in the roofof the casing 11 at the developer station 15 thereof; the superposedsheets to be developed are fed into the developer station through theseparate slots 27 and 28 and are removed from the developer stationthrough a common delivery slot 29 formed in the casing. The slots 27, 28and 29 are disposed above a developer container or tray 30 which isremovably mounted within the casing upon the support plate 12.

The developer tray includes an obliquely oriented rear wall 31,vertically disposed side Walls 32 and a substantially vertical frontwall 33. Indentations or depressions 35 are formed in the floor 34 ofthe developer tray 30 lengthwise of the casing 11. Mounted above thetray adjacent the front Wall 33 thereof on shafts journalled in bearingson frame 13 are a pair of rolls 36 and 37 adapted to engage the sheetmaterial passed through the developer liquid in tray 30, squeeze thethus developed sheets together and withdraw the same from the developerstation 15 through the exit slot 29 in the casing 11.

In accordance with the invention the elongated feed slots 27 and 28formed in the casing 11 for feeding the Patented Nov. 9, 19fi5 I stationare separated by an elongated lateral projection 38, including a forwardor leading wall member 39 and a rear or trailing wall member 41 whichguide the superposed sheets into the casing to effect contact betweenthe sheets separately introduced through slots 27 and 28 with thedeveloper liquid contained within the tray 30. The projection 38 maypossess a generally V-shaped cross section, as shown in FIGURE 3, or betruncated as illustrated in FIGURE 1. In either case it is preferredthat the leading wall member 39 define about a 50 angle with respect tothe vertical axis extending from its upper edge through the casing ofthe photocopier, and the trailing wall member 41 define about a 2 anglewith the vertical axis extending from its upper edge through the casing.When the external projection 38 is so constructed, the leading andtrailing wall members 39 and 41 thereof guide the spaced superposedsheets at the correct angles into the developer tray 30 such that theyare wet by the developer liquid contained therein, subsequently contactone another, are fed along the floor 34 of the tray 30 and into the nipof the pair of squeeze rolls 36 and 37 for removal from the copier.

An elongated submerger plate 42 having a generally concave cross sectionand including a number of elongated depressions 43 formed on oppositesides thereof is removably mounted within the developer tray, slots 44in the side walls 32 of the tray receiving supporting fingers 45 at theends of the submerger plate. As shown in FIGURE 3, the upper edge 46 ofthe submerger plate 42 extends above the feed slot 28, adjacent theprojection 38. As described below, sheets fed into slot 28 are guidedbetween the leading wall member 39 of the projection and the submergerplate 42, into the developer tray 30.

The roof of the casing 11 is provided with a sloping surface 40 adjacentthe slot 27 thereof, disposed at an angle substantially parallel to theleading wall member 39 of projection 38 and the submerger plate 42. Thesurface 40, wall member 39 and submerger plate 42 act as parallelguiding surfaces and trailing wall member 41 acts as a limiting guidemember directing the superposed sheets fed into slots 27 and 28 intodeveloper tray 30 whereat they contact one another.

The feed rolls of the photocopier embodiment illustrated are driven by amotor 47, as shown in FIGURE 2. Connected to a pulley on the shaft 49 ofmotor 47 is a. drive belt 51 which drives a pulley 52 on shaft 22 towhich the feed roll 21 is secured. Similarly connected to a pulley onthe shaft 49 is a drive belt 53 which passes over idler 54 journalled onframe 13 and drives a pulley 55 on a shaft 56 to which the feed roll 36is afiixed. The feed rolls at the printer station 14 and developerstation 15 are thus driven from a common drive mounted adjacent one sideof frame 13 which is simple and does not complicate the printer anddeveloper mechanisms.

In operation, an original sheet 57 to be copied, a photosensitivenegative sheet 58 and a positive receiving or copy sheet 59 aresuperposed and fed into the feed slot 16 at the printer station 14 (seeFIGURE 3). In the preferred embodiment shown, the original is placedface down between the negative and receiving sheets, the negative sheet58 being positioned adjacent feed plate 18 with the sensitized surfaceof sheet 58 contacting the original. The resulting sandwich is fed overfeed plate 18 and across the exposure slit or aperture provided byaperture tube 24 whereat a reflex exposure of the negative sheet 58 fromthe original 57 is effected. The exposed assembly is pulled through thenip of print roll 21 and print back-up roll 26A and removed from theprinter station 14 through delivery slot 17.

After removal of the original 57, the negative sheet 58 hearing anegative latent image is fed into the developer superposed sheets inseparate relation into the developer 2 station 15 through feed slot 27,with the emulsion side thereof facing the receiving sheet 59 fed insuperposed relation through feed slot 28. The sheets are guided by thewall members 39 and 41 of the projection 38 and the submerger plate 42through the slots into the developer liquid in tray 30. As shown inFIGURE 3, the sheets contact one another within the developer tray 30,are fed through the developer bath, squeezed together in the nip ofrolls 36 and 37 and withdrawn from the developer station 15 through thedelivery slot 29 in sandwiched relation. After the time requisite tocomplete the diffusion transfer operation the sheets are peeled apart, a

positive image on the receiving sheet 59 resulting.

Since certain changes may be made in the photocopier of the presentinvention without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is:

A photocopier for exposing a photosensitive sheet from an original andsubsequently simultaneously developing said sheet and transferring aphotographic image therefrom to a superposed receiving sheet to therebyproduce a positive copy of said original, said apparatus comprising anelongated casing containing:

(a) a printer station for exposing said sheet from said original, saidprinter station being disposed within said housing adjacent one endthereof and including (1) a transparent feed plate over which theoriginal and said photosensitive sheet are fed in superposed relation,

(2) a light source spaced from and facing the superposed sheets and (3)a pair of feed rollers adjacent said feed plate for engaging saidsuperposed sheets; and

(b) a developer station for simultaneously developing the exposedphotosensitive sheet and transferring an image from said sheet to saidreceiving sheet, said developer section disposed adjacent the oppositeend of said casing and including:

(1) a container removably received within said casing for holdingdeveloper liquid,

(2) a pair of transversely elongated rollers for engaging and pressingsaid sheets together after passage through said developer liquid, saidrollers being rotatably mounted in engaging relation within said casingat said opposite end thereof above said container,

(3) a pair of transversely elongated feed slots in the roof of saidcasing separating said exposed sheet and said receiving sheet,

(4) a transversely elongated projection separating said feed slots andextending above the roof of said casing, said projection includingleading and trailing wall members disposed angularly of and in abuttingrelation with the respective feed slots,

(5) a submerger plate having a concave cross section and including aguiding surface extending above the roof of said casing adjacent saidleading wall member, and

(6) the roof of said casing including a downwardly sloping surface inabutting relation with one of said feed slots adjacent said trailingwall member,

(7) the leading wall member of said projection the guiding surface ofsaid submerger plate and the sloping surface of said roof disposed insubstantial parallelism and said trailing wall member disposed angularlythereof for guiding Said exposed sheet and said receiving sheet intosaid casing for contact within said container.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited by the ExaminerFOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 320,782 5/57 Switzerland.

2,835,179 5/58 Fairbanks 95-75 2,946,272 7/60 Eisner NORTON ANSHER,Przmary Exammer.

3,031,942 5/62 Carlson 95-775 5 JOHN M. HORAN, Examiner.

